Fiber optic technology has become an essential technology for the implementation of digital networks operating at gigabit rates and above. Maintenance of such links is a pressing issue with both military and commercial customers. The ability to isolate a link failure to the particular component (e.g. transmitter, cable plant, receiver, etc.) is needed.
Some conventional transceivers have the ability to monitor laser power, detector current, transceiver temperature, and other parameters. Such transceivers suffer from several disadvantages. For example, in such conventional transceivers, the main processor must include in its Operational Flight Program (OFP) and in its timing load the instructions necessary to perform the monitoring and information distillation processes for separating and interpreting the portion or portions of the signals associated with monitoring, thereby complicating and slowing the main processor program. Also, if the link stops operating, or operates erratically, then there is no possibility of performing an after-the-event fault isolation. Therefore, there exists an unmet need for a means for monitoring the performance of a fiber optic link (e.g. transmitter power, receiver amplitude, cable plant loss, etc.) without substantially interfering with the main communication function that the fiber optic link is intended to perform.